Large-scale affordable housing projects, wind farms, and small-scale diagnostic health clinics are just some examples of the wave of impact enterprises that have been emerging over the last decade, seeking to address social and environmental needs in addition to making profits. The unique characteristic of these impact enterprises is the expectation of a net positive social or environmental benefit, whether through their product or service, or in the way they create value for the communities they serve. Some may be extremely profitable; others may more closely resemble nonprofit organizations. What most of them share is a difficulty in finding capital that aligns to their needs and enables their growth.

Businesses have been using online customer service for a while. It is a popular channel because is fast and easy to use―it requires minimal effort from the customer, which increases the likelihood of completing the task that they are up to complete.

Alejandra is a Mexican young woman whom dropped out of secondary school when she was 16 years old due to her pregnancy. After a long period out from school and the labor market, she would like to work but she perceives that her situation neither allows her to enroll in a job training nor look for a job. Daniel decided to drop out when he was studying his last year of secondary school. He thought that school didn’t contribute anything to his life and he decided, in his own words, “to the monotony of doing nothing for living” because there was not hope in Uraba, his home region in Colombia.